Can opener for removable seal strips



Dec. 12, 1961 R. N. WALKER CAN OPENER FOR REMOVABLE SEAL STRIPS Filed Oct. 5, 1959 FIGURE FIGURE 2.

5 E R U mG .H

INVENTOR.

ROY N. WALKER FIGURE 4 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 12, 1961 3,012,690 CAN OPENER FOR REMOVABLE SEAL STRIPS Roy N. Walker, 930 S. Western, Peoria, Ill. Filed Oct. 5, 1959, Ser. No. 844,508 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-52) This invention relates to an improvement in can openers for opening a can having a removable seal strip located around the circumference of the shell thereof and spaced from the lid thereof and provided with a tab for the removal of the strip.

My can opener is made of a rectangular plate normally positioned in a horizontal plane, with an upright back plate and an upright side plate. The junction between the rectangular plate and the upright side plate has a willcient inside radius to space the lid of the can to be opened from the upright side plate to eliminate friction or drag on the upright side plate and allow the can to freely turn on the circumferential bead of the lid resting on a small portion of the inside radius between the rectangular plate and the upright side plate. A heavy sectional bar member is secured to the upright side plate member with transverse holes therethrough to provide selective journal bearings for the shaft of a crank. The crank shaft has an open end slot parallel with and located in the end portion of the shaft and the open end slot is sufficient to receive the conventional tab of a removable seal strip. The heavy sectional bar member provides sufiicient length of the selective bearings to hold the shaft of the'crank in alignment with the roll action of winding the removable strip on the shaft. Considerable length of a strip will make a roll with a large diameter and must be rolled in alignment or the strip will tend to slip sidewise off the roll. The head of the lid of the can will also bear against an inside radius between the back plate and a lug bent forwardly for securing a tie bar to the upright side plate. The journal bearings are spaced at a level substantially below the center of the can lid. The resultant force of winding the strip on the crank shaft is substantially directed toward the junction of the upright back plate and the normally horizontal rectangular plate, or at least between the points of bearing on the inside radii with a result that the can will turn freely in the position against the radii without the aid of a persons hand. When the strip roll increases in size the can will rise upwardly from the rectangular plate and roll on the winding strip.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a professional can opener for restaurants, cafes, and lunch places for opening cans of cofiee which are currently supplied in three sizes; /z pound, 1 pound and 2 pound sizes. The one pound or two pound sizes have the same diameter.

The two holes for selective journal hearings in the heavy sectional bar member will provide the proper crank shaft positions for all three sizes of cans. I also provide a means of lateral adjustment to guide any of the sizes of cans to freely roll on the inside radii.

The invention will be more apparent and better understood from the accompanying drawing, this specification and the claims appended.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view illustrating my improved can opener.

FIGURE 2 is a view illustrating the front elevation of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the bead of a can resting on the inside radius of the juncture between the horizontal rectangular plate and the upright side plate. 1

The rectangular plate 10 is normally positioned hori-- zontally and has an upright back plate 11 joined thereto with an inside radius 12. Holes 13 are provided in the upright back plate 11 and are adapted for anchorage, to a wall or support not shown.

An upright side plate 14 is projected upwardly from the rectangular plate 10 with an inside radius 15 formed at the juncture thereof.

A lug 16 is projected forwardly from the upright back plate 11, and is located in spaced alignment with the upright side plate 14. A tie bar 17 has one end portion thereof secured to the lug 16 and the opposite end portion thereof secured to the upright side plate 14.

A heavy sectional bar member 18 is located at a. level substantially below the horizontal axis of the can. The heavy sectional bar is secured to the opposite face of the upright side plate 14 from the face thereof having the. inside radius thereon. Transverse holes 19 are spaced through the heavy sectional bar member 18 and extend through the upright side plate member 14 to'serve as selective journal bearings for the shaft 20 of the hand crank shaft 2%, 21. The crank has an open end slot 22 parallel with and located in the end portion of the shaft 20.

The journal bearings or holes 19 are spaced forwardly from the forward face of the upright back plate 11 at a-lesser distance than the diameter of the respective cans 23 and 33, to rest curved portions of either can 'on the shaft 20 and rectangular plate. 10, when the curved por tions of the respective can bear against the forward face of the upright back plate 11. The shaft 20 is spaced from the forward face of the upright back plate 11 is parallelism. The rotatable axis of the shell of either can is parallel with the shaft 20, when curved portions of the can are resting thereon and bearing against the upright back plate 11.

The typical large can 23 with a removable seal strip 24, tab 25, and head or lid 26 is illustrated with dash lines and rests on the circumferential beads 27 and 28. The head 28 rests on the inside radius 15 and the inside radius 15 spaces the head or lid 26 from the upright side plate member 14. The can 23 is guided in the inside radius 15 by the means of an adjustable bar 29 located substantially against the bottom 30 of the large can 23. The adjustable bar 29 is secured to a sliding bracket 31 and held in a selected position by clamp 32. The adjustable bar 29 is located for a 2 pound can in FIGURE 2.

The forward hole 19 is located for the open end slot 22 of shaft 20 to receive the tab 25 as illustrated in FIG- URE 4 preparatory to the winding of the removable seal strip 24. The rear hole 19 is positioned for receiving shaft 20 for one half pound can 33 illustrated in dot and dash lines.

When a roll of removable strip 24 is completed and severed from the can 23 or can 33 the roll is easily removed by manually pulling the crank shaft 20 outwardly through the selective hole 19 until the roll falls by gravity from the shaft 20. Withdrawal of the shaft 20 from the hole 19 is not necessary. Illustration of the conventional and well known roll of the removable strip 24 is not shown.

I claim: I r

1. An upright back plate, an upright side plate located at a right angle to said upright back plate, 2. normally horizontal plate of rectangular shape, said upright back plate and said upright side plate having the lower edges thereof curved toward and secured to said horizontal plate, a tie bar, said tie bar spacing said upright back plate with said upright side plate, a shaft positioned horizontally, said shaft being spaced forwardly from the forward face of said upright back plate in parallelism at a substantially lesser distance than the diameter of a can having a sealing strip to be removed, said shaft being spaced sufficiently above said horizontal plate and substantially below the level of the horizontal rotatable axis of the shell of the can for curved portions of the can to rest on the shaft and against the forward face of said upright back plate and on said horizontal plate, a journal bearing member, said journal bearing member being on said upright side plate, said shaft being rotatable in said journal bearing member, said shaft having an end slot therein registerable with a projected tab on one end of the sealing strip to be removed from around the shell of a can, a crank, said crank being secured to the opposite end of said shaft and adapted for manually winding the sealing strip in a roll on said shaft and gradually roll the can upwardly on the roll of sealing strip and the forward face of said upright back plate, a guide member, and said guide member adapted to position the lid of a can close to said upright side plate.

2. An upright back plate, an upright side plate located at a right angle to said upright back plate, a normally horizontal plate of rectangular shape, said upright back plate and said upright side plate having the lower edges thereof secured to said horizontal plate, a shaft positioned horizontally, said shaft being spaced forwardly from the forward face of said upright back plate in parallelism at a substantially lesser distance than the diameter of a can having a sealing strip to be removed, said shaft being spaced sufficiently above said horizontal plate and substantially below the level of the horizontal rotatable axis of the shell of the can for curved portions of the can to rest on the shaft and against the forward face of said upright back plate and on said horizontal plate, a journal bearing, said journal bearing being on said upright side plate, said shaft being rotatable in said journal bearing, said shaft having an end slot therein registerable with a projected tab on one end of the sealing strip to be removed from around the shell of a can, a crank, and said crank being secured to the opposite end of said shaft and adapted for manually winding the sealing strip in a roll on said shaft.

3. An upright back plate, an upright side plate located at a right angle to said upright back plate, a normally horizontal plate of rectangular shape, said upright back plate and said upright side plate having the lower edges thereof secured to said horizontal plate, said upright back plate being tied to said upright side plate, a shaft positioned horizontally, said shaft being spaced forwardly from the forward face of said upright back plate in parallelism at a substantially lesser distance than the diameter of a can having a sealing strip to be removed, said shaft being spaced sufficiently above said horizontal plate and substantially below the level of the horizontal rotatable axis of the shell of the can for curved portions of the can to rest on the shaft and against the forward face of said upright back plate, a journal bearing, said journal bearing being on said upright side plate, said shaft being rotatable in said journal bearing, said shaft having an end slot therein registerable with a projected tab on one end of the sealing strip to be removed from around the shell of a can, a crank, and said crank being secured to the opposite end of said shaft and adapted for manually winding the sealing strip in a roll on said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

